ANDERSON, SOUTH CAROLINA — A young man’s carjacking career is now 0-2 after he was held at gunpoint by a family member of the vehicle’s owner. The owner of the vehicle was helping renovate the Home with a Heart center when the family member noticed the young man drive off in his fully loaded Honda.
Thankfully, there was another vehicle nearby and they pursued the car thief while coordinating with Anderson’s police dispatch. The pursuit ended at the Trac 5 convenience store. Held at gunpoint, the car thief waited until police took over the scene.
No one was hurt or injured.
According to WALB 10, the car thief had just gotten out of Pickens County Jail for impersonating an officer of the law and stealing a car. This wasn’t his first time around the block. Hopefully, it’ll be his last because he seems to have no skill whatsoever in this line of work.
The question we’re asking the concealed carry community: would you do the same?
This story is a bit different from the usual failed carjacking. The car jacker actually got away. It was up to a law abiding gun owner and family members to help police detain the suspect.
Is that something you’d be comfortable doing?
On one hand, it’s great to see family helping each other out. The loss of a vehicle, tools, and equipment can tax an individual dearly.
On the other hand, to play Devil’s Advocate, they could have just called it into the police and waited for them to get it. No violence was used against them and that seems like a reasonable enough thing to do.
Without weighing too heavily on one side or the other, we’re curious what other concealed carriers think of a situation like this.
When you see someone get into another person’s car and drive off, do you step in and lead the pursuit or do you call it in and let law enforcement handle it? Tell us in the comments section below.